What we missed while we looked away – the growth of long‐term unemployment

Abstract

Australia took its eyes off long-term unemployment, for what it thought were good reasons. Long-term unemployment is defined as unemployment for more than 12 months in a row. In the early 1990s, after the “recession we had to have”, long-term unemployment grew to a postwar high of 4% and became a major concern for the government amid fears that once Australians had became long-term unemployed, they would never easily get back to work. Over time, that concern lessened. Strong economic growth delivered a steady decline in the overall rate of unemployment and, as a consequence, long-term unemployment.